Introduction 7
Introduction
The Dell™ OpenManage™ Client Instrumentation (OMCI) software enables
remote management application programs to access client system information,
monitor the client system status, or change the state of the client system; such
as shutting it down remotely. Through standard interfaces, OMCI exposes key
system parameters allowing administrators to manage inventory, monitor
system health, and gather information on deployed Dell client systems.
OMCI enables Dell client systems to be managed using the Common
Information Model (CIM) standard. CIM reduces your total cost of
ownership, improves security, and provides a holistic approach to managing
all devices in the enterprise, including clients, servers, storage, network, and
software devices.

CIM Overview

The CIM, created by the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) as part
of the Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM) initiative, provides a
unified view of physical and logical objects in the managed environment.
CIM is a systems management protocol defined by industry standards.
The following are important CIM details:
• CIM is an object
-
oriented data model for describing management
information. CIM describes the way the data is organized, not necessarily
the transport model used to transport the data. The most prevalent
transport method is the Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Management
Instrumentation (WMI).
•CIM
-
capable management applications gather information from a variety
of CIM objects and devices, including client and server systems, network
infrastructure devices, and applications.
• The CIM specification details mapping techniques for improved
compatibility with other management protocols.